John Greenleaf Whittier

Again the blackbirds sings; the streams
Wake, laughing, from their winter dreams,
And tremble in the April read more

Again the blackbirds sings; the streams
Wake, laughing, from their winter dreams,
And tremble in the April showers
The tassels of the maple flowers.

Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; Who sows a field, or trains read more

Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; Who sows a field, or trains a flower, Or plants a tree, is more than all.

With silence only as their benediction,
God's angels come
Where in the shadow of a great affliction,
read more

With silence only as their benediction,
God's angels come
Where in the shadow of a great affliction,
The soul sits dumb!

The sun that brief December day
Rose cheerless over hills of gray,
And, darkly circled, gave at read more

The sun that brief December day
Rose cheerless over hills of gray,
And, darkly circled, gave at noon
A sadder light than waning moon.

Press bravely onward!--not in vain
Your generous trust in human kind;
The good which bloodshed could not read more

Press bravely onward!--not in vain
Your generous trust in human kind;
The good which bloodshed could not gain
Your peaceful zeal shall find.